Specialists in bespoke portrait commissions by Europe's leading portrait artists.

Thursday, 13 July 2017

BP Portraits Awards: What to look for....

The BP Portrait Awards never fails to create a buzz, with
lengthy debates on the how the year’s exhibition compares to its predecessor’s,
and the inevitable discussion on which style is preferred, who ‘in my opinion’ should
have won, what an odd subject matter etc. etc. The list goes on… As you wander
around you will hear projected comments dissecting style, subject and helpfully
suggesting ways in how the portrait could have been improved, usually by people
(like me) who cannot draw a circle but as a viewer have been given the right to
critique.

The culprits of these comments should read The
Evening Standard’s interview with the Senior Curator of the National Portrait
Gallery, Sarah Howgate. She broadly summarises
what the judging panel of the BP Portrait Awards 2017 were looking for when
choosing the shortlist of this year’s exhibition. Emphasis was put on the
stories surrounding the portrait; what does the work tell us? Is it about the sitter, the artist or both? Will it evoke emotion? What is the style of painting?.. From this interview it seems that narrative
plays a significant part in the panel’s decision, as well the style and skill
of painting. This then prompted thoughts as to what we, at Fine Art
Commissions, look for when perusing the walls of the NPG’s most established exhibition
and why they might differ from those of the judging panel…

The BP Portrait Awards competition has been running since
1979 and has been sponsored by BP for the last twenty-eight years. One of the most impressive accolades of the
exhibition is its international reach with this year’s competition seeing 2,580
artists entering portraits from 87 countries.
Only the 50 shortlisted paintings make it through to the annual exhibition
at the National Portrait Gallery. The
competition pulls in visitors from as many countries as the entrants, in 2015
over 320,000 people walked through the doors to see the array of works on
display. As an artist the chance to
display your work at the finest Portrait Gallery in the world, to such a vast
audience, does go a long way to explaining the number of submissions. There is also the added bonus of the £30,000
prize money and a commission from the NPG which will hang in their permanent
collection to whet the appetite further.

Would Fine Art Commissions have been working to the same
criteria when judging the entrants? Yes,
in general terms of style and painting skill, but the narrative is where the
roads part. As a commissioning agency we
guide and advise clients through the process of choosing an artist for a
particular project. Because of this we
need our artists to be accurate in their depiction, consistent with their style
and palette, and imaginative in their compositions. We need to know that the previous portraits
which we show to a client clearly represent their current painting style, while
also showing that the artist will not just recreate an old composition with a
different sitter. The narrative is
important but unlike many BP Portrait entries, it is not chosen by the artist
beforehand with a specific audience in mind.
It is developed simultaneously with the portrait, as the artist learns
more about the sitter.

Both criterias, for the BP Portrait judging panel and for
FAC, have their limitations. For FAC it
can mean we are less gung-ho in taking a chance on an artist who has produced
one phenomenal painting but has little else to their name, as we cannot be sure
they will deliver to clients. We focus
on technical ability so that we are confident that the artist has all the tools
they need to capture the sitter’s physical likeness and create a fantastic
portrait. Creativeness is something we
encourage once an artist has the fundamentals.

In contrast, the BP’s judging panel can choose an artist
based on just one flair portrait. No
previous works are needed and it gives an artist the confidence to progress
further in their career. However they
are dictated by their audience and need to make sure the exhibition will appeal
to the public. This may explain the
competition’s interest this year, in the narratives of the portraits. As you may have noticed the general public
are currently fascinated by other people’s life stories (look at the ratings
for ITV’s Love Island…). Narratives do
add an additional allure to a portrait, everyone enjoys a story, but it can
also mean the painterly elements of a portrait are overlooked. A technically brilliant painting with a mundane
choice of sitter, may mean the artist loses out to a celebrity portrait. This
is not saying this has happened at the BP Awards, but more to say that it is
important to realise that the final destination of a portrait can determine how
a painting, and an artist, are judged both privately and publicly. If you are lucky enough to go to the BP
Portrait Awards this year, keep Sarah Howgate’s guidelines in your mind as you
amble through the NPG’s halls, as they might help you learn more about the
works, and why they were chosen. They
certainly did for us!

THE WINNER:

Huge congratulations to the winner of this year’s BP
Portrait Awards, Benjamin Sullivan, His winning portrait ‘Breech!’ delivered in
all manners (no pun intended). The
painting connects the sitter, the artist and the viewer, altogether, in an
incredibly intimate manner. The portrait
depicts his wife, gazing at their eight-month-old daughter while she
breastfeeds her. We (as the viewer) take
the position of Sullivan looking on at the scene and immediately become
involved. There is also a rousing story
surrounding the painting, not in the least from the suggestive title ‘Breech!’. The portrait is well painted, the combination
of the limited pallet and painting style may not be to everyone’s taste, but it
does draws attention to Sullivan’s wonderful handling of light and the detailed
skin tones. After 13 years of being
shortlisted (a current record) and third prize last year, Sullivan is a deserved
winner.

Breech!, by Benjamin Sullivan,

82cm x 40cm, oil on canvas, 2017

The BP Portrait Awards 2017 will be on display at the National Portrait
Gallery, London, until 24th September 2017.